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"T-minus ten days and counting until the New York City Marathon! And wow, have I tried out a lot of weird stuff to make training for it a little easier on me. Let me introduce you to four little gems that have changed my valiant attempts at long-distance running forever\u2026\n1. Get a massage. Get a massage. Get a massage.\nI say it thrice because it&amp;#39;s THAT important. You may recall that a few weeks ago, I had pretty much the worst run of my life. Well, the week after, while mentally gearing up for the longest run of my marathon training, I decided to treat myself massage at the Bliss spa in Soho. Forty-nine magical moments later, I hopped off the massage table and for the first time in months, felt totally fine. Not the least bit sore! But the best part? The next day, I ran twenty miles (I know! Twenty!) on what felt like completely new legs. No cement-like slowness. No internal monologue reminding myself I could do this. I just RAN. I felt like someone put the air back in my tires. I know it&amp;#39;s pricey and not easy to indulge in very often, but believe me, there is absolutely nothing more restorative.\n2. Upgrade your earphones.\nHere&amp;#39;s a fun fact you may not want know but I&amp;#39;m going to tell you anyway; when you run for more than two hours, your ears sweat so much that your earphones fall out of your ears. If you want to actually listen to that awesome iTunes mix you made, you may be interested in these iPhone/iPod/iPad-compatible Yurbuds, earbuds designed by an Ironman triathlete. They don&amp;#39;t hurt and they actually stay put. Also, they&amp;#39;re cute and red. Downside: the ones I have (the &amp;quot;Inspire&amp;quot; version) are a little on the pricey side at $49.99, but they also make less expensive versions, and the ones I have really do hold up nicely.\nPinterestFacebookThis is what I&amp;#39;d look like if I happened to use the earbuds while running in my office.\n3. Get some Gu. Preferably the chocolate kind.\nHow do you feel about frosting out of the jar? Because eating Gu Enegery Gel in Chocolate Outrage is kind of like that. If you&amp;#39;re planning on running for more than an hour or so, you&amp;#39;re going to need to replenish your calories roughly every 45 minutes, and if you have to squeeze a protein gel into your mouth, it might as well taste like frosting, right?\n4. Try out those crazy-looking socks with the individual toes.\nI say try them, because they&amp;#39;re not for everyone. But if you tend to clench your toes like I do, or you&amp;#39;re prone to crampy toes, these are worth a shot. I gave a pair of injinji toesocks a whirl on both my 20-mile run and on a shorter 4-mile run and after a few minutes of what can best be described as a toe wedgie, I sort of forgot about the weird feeling between my toes and enjoyed my foot-clench-free run.\nI also have to give honorable mentions to Runners&amp;#39; Glide (without it, I&amp;#39;d have chafing where I didn&amp;#39;t even know you could have chafing), a glass of orange juice an hour before running (seems to ease up the leg cramping) and my foam roller&amp;#8212;-magic at undoing calf tension.\n__So there you have it. My must-have list of runners&amp;#39; secret weapons. Fellow runners out there, what tops your list? Share em below (and quickly, before I hit the marathon trail!). __\nMore Ways to Get Glamour:\nChat with celebs, VIP fashion stars, beauty pros and more on our Facebook page\nDownload Glamour Magazine for your iPad--print subscribers, it&amp;#39;s now part of your subscription plan!\nEnter the latest *Glamour sweepstakes! *\nFollow us on Twitter\nPhoto: istock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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